Morrison And Hunter Explain The Cost Of Colorism

Colorism is an unfortunate modern consequence of centuries-old social and cultural ideals that never completely erased themselves from cultural thought. Colorism is discrimination based on skin tone and typically favors those of a lighter complexion. While colorism favors the lighter complexion, it is not limited to one race and whites are not the exclusive perpetrators of this type of discrimination. The costs of colorism include access to education and jobs, as well as lack of marriage eligibility and poor family relationships. These costs are justified through poor advertising and the media’s skewed perception of beauty. Morrison and Hunter demonstrate these costs and also explain the uphill struggle of reversing these biases. Colorism is still very much alive and plays in active role in society though it is deeply rooted in discriminatory histories of slavery and …show more content…
The discrimination one faces for their skin tone is not brought on by just white people, but also by people within their own race. Tension can arise within families when a child is born darker than its parents or when one sibling is lighter or darker than another. People often feel that they can’t relate to another individual because they face a different discrimination. One mother writes, “it didn’t take more than an hour after they pulled her out from between my legs for me to realize something was wrong. Really wrong. She was so black she scared me” (Morrison). Even the love a mother has for her child can be damaged simply because of the child’s skin color. The relationship between Lula Ann and her mother is forever damaged because of Lula Ann’s darker complexion. Morrison goes on to discuss the years of emotional abuse Lula Ann endures as her mother tries to prepare her for the world. The relationships within her family, like many others, were broken because of the cost of